Ali ibn Abi Talib (601-661 CE) is recognized as the fourth Sunni caliph and the first Shia imam. Shia and some Sunni sources introduce Ali as the only person born inside the Ka'ba, the ancient shrine in the city of Mecca which later became the most sacred site in Islam.
Historical accounts
editAli was born to Abu Talib and his wife Fatima bint Asad around 600 CE,[1] some thirty years after the Year of the Elephant.[2] Shia and some Sunni sources report that Ali was the only person born in the Ka'ba, the ancient shrine in the city of Mecca which later became the most sacred site in Islam.[3][4] Some sources also offer miraculous descriptions of this incident.[1] In particular, it is said that the wall of Ka'ba,[5] or its door,[1] slivered open as Fatima prayed there and shut close after she entered. She later emerged from the Ka'ba with a baby boy, as people awaited her outside, unable to enter.[5][6]
Historiography
editKitab al-Irshad, a Shia collective biography, and the Sunni history The Meadows of Gold both report that Ali was born inside the Ka'ba.[2][7] Indeed, Shia sources are unanimous in this belief and regard the incident as unique to Ali, an indication of his high spiritual station.[1][3] This account is also accepted by some Sunni authors, such as the historian al-Mas'udi (d. 956), who nevertheless regards birth in the Ka'ba as a great distinction not unique to Ali.[1] Among others, that Ali was born inside the Ka'ba is the view of the contemporary Sunni scholar Shah Waliullah Dehlawi (d. 1762).[7]
See also
editFootnotes
edit- ^ a b c d e Shah-Kazemi 2015.
- ^ a b Gleave 2008.
- ^ a b Nasr & Afsaruddin 2022.
- ^ Marshall Cavendish Reference 2011, p. 86.
- ^ a b Abbas 2021, p. 15.
- ^ Haider 2014, p. 56.
- ^ a b Abbas 2021, p. 203.
References
edit- Abbas, Hassan (2021). The Prophet's Heir: The Life of Ali ibn Abi Talib. Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300252057.
- Marshall Cavendish Reference (2011). Illustrated Dictionary of the Muslim World. Marshall Cavendish. ISBN 9780761479291.
- Gleave, Robert M. (2008). "'Alī b. Abī Ṭālib". In Fleet, Kate; Krämer, Gudrun; Matringe, Denis; Nawas, John; Rowson, Everett (eds.). Encyclopaedia of Islam (Third ed.). ISBN 9789004171374.
- Haider, Najam (2014). Shi'i Islam: An Introduction. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781107031432.
- Nasr, Seyyed Hossein; Afsaruddin, Asma (2022). "'Alī". Encyclopedia Britannica.
- Shah-Kazemi, Reza (2015). "ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib 2. Biography". In Daftary, Farhad (ed.). Encyclopaedia Islamica. Translated by Melvin-Koushki, Matthew. doi:10.1163/1875-9831_isla_COM_0252.